Norfolk gets $15,000 grant for new patrol vehicle

NORFOLK - The town of Norfolk’s police department has run into some unexpected additional funds and plans on purchasing a new patrol vehicle with the money.

Town Supervisor Charles A. Pernice announced Monday that the town had received a $15,709 grant from Operation Stonegarden for the new vehicle as well as other items.

“They have given us grants for two new computers for the cars, and we just received a ($15,000) grant to buy a new patrol car. The Border Patrol needs to ride in it with the local force because they can’t do traffic. So we can also monitor for traffic infractions,” he said.

Operation Stonegarden is a federal grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a component of the Department of Homeland Security, as part of the State Homeland Security Grant Program, according to its website.

Stonegarden provides funding to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities “to jointly secure U.S. borders and territories.”

Funds are to be used for additional law enforcement personnel, overtime pay, and travel and lodging for deployment of state and local personnel to further increase law enforcement presence along the border, the website added.

Norfolk Town Councilwoman Jean Gang said that Police Officer in Charge Karla Trimm had been considering buying a used patrol car last month.

Mr. Pernice said that Ms. Trimm was not expecting this grant to come through until next summer but with it they can buy a new vehicle instead.

“How long do we have before we have to spend it? Usually it’s a year,” Ms. Gang said.

“Stonegarden is a federal agency, and we go through the Border Patrol to get this grant,” Ms. Trimm said. “We’re also working on getting more patrols on the road. They are giving us 288 more hours for road patrol. I really wasn’t expecting (the grant) to come through this soon. We did just purchase a used Tahoe and $5,000 of that came from ex-DA (Nicole Duve.) We just got it detailed out about 10 days ago. We’ll take money any way we can get it, and we’re such a small department. (The new patrol vehicle) was definitely a need for us.”

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